The Last Guardian
by Hawki
Summary: Segaverse Story: Fooled by Robotnik, Knuckles had let Angel Island come to the brink of disaster at the hands of the Death Egg...and he knew it. Caught up in guilt and a battle against the remaining badniks, another entity stood ready to make its move...
1. Desert Palace

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**Sonic the Hedgehog: The Last Guardian**

**Chapter 1: Desert Palace**

Time is cruel.

Time makes a mockery of mortals and their efforts. Time marches on, uncaring of who or what it tramples in its march. Time even marches at different speeds, at times cutting endeavours short, at others drawing out its progression to the point of torture. Time is, at times, a monster.

Yet time is also a means of measuring progression, of how far one has come...of how far one as fallen. Angel Island, drifting through the skies of Earth for time immemorial, is one such example. And of that example is Sandopolis...a desert in the clouds. Temples, pyramids, the crypts of the dead...all ruined. Its builders gone. All that is left is for time to let their achievements stand as tribute to their former glory. And then, when all memory of them has faded, to sweep them under the sands of the desert. The sands of time itself. To sweep away the testament to their grandeur.

Their failings however, may live on longer. Only because the last of their kind has failed only recently. Briefly, Angel Island was no longer a land in the clouds. Briefly, Angel Island was threatened with being swept under the seas of the world below, more swiftly and terribly than even sand could manage. Briefly, the fate of the entire world was at state before the island was returned to its place in the clouds. Briefly...but a brief moment of failure is all that is needed. For that is how time operates. It is not the march of time that is remembered, but the events that interrupt its movement. And sometimes, those events are shameful to remember.

Glory is fleeting. Ignominy is forever. Shame is eternal.

So thus Sandopolis stands, in testament to both glory and shame. Its glory is reflected in its crumbling architecture, the rotting walls of the Desert Palace being but one of many examples. Its shame is reflected by that which scurries around these monuments...badniks. Sandworms, skorps, rock'ns...monuments to a monster more cruel and caspicuous than even time itself. Monuments to how far the civilization that once stood here has fallen. And how much further it could still fall...

But if Angel Island is to fall, there is one that intends to postpone that day for as long as possible.

It happens in an instant. One moment the badniks are moving around, operating without direction. The next, they are being felled, the animals inside released to the merciful light of the sun. A red demon moves among them, destroying the metal prisons before they have time to react...if they are still capable of such a thing. Skorps flail their tails, hitting nothing before losing their tails altogether. Sandworms poke their heads out of the ground, only to lose their heads altogether. And even the sturdy rock'ns are no match for the strength of raw fury.

Within moments, the slaughter is over as soon as it began. A blip in time, before it marches on. A blip in this island's history...an attempt to preserve its monuments for as long as possible. And to erase the shame of the one that guards them.

It's not enough to erase the shame. It never will be.

And Knuckles the Echidna knows it.

* * *

The Guardian didn't watch the animals scamper away. He didn't think he could bear to meet their gaze.

Nor could he bear to meet his own, hence why he simply sat down by the pool of quicksand and toyed with following the badnik casings he'd thrown into it. Sinking down, suffocated...it couldn't be much more unpleasant than his current situation. And the point of being released from his woes would come much sooner...

_No. I can't...not yet at least..._

Not until Angel Island was free of every badnik that Robotnik had left behind. After that...well, time would tell. And time, as Knuckles had found, could move far too slowly for his tastes.

Yet only now had the echidna experienced it. For as long as he could remember, he'd guarded Angel Island and the Master Emerald that kept it afloat, despite being the last of his kind. He'd never shied away from his duty, and despite no threat ever manifesting over the years of his guardianship, he'd honed his mind and body the whole while. Waiting for the hypothetical day when his strength and knowledge would be put to the test. For the last echidna in this world to make his stand and either succeed, or perish in the attempt. It was, simply put, all Knuckles had lived for. And a week ago, such a time had come.

_And time was allowed to march on..._the echidna reflected bitterly, squinting as he gazed up at the sun above, concluding that it was past mid-day. _Only I wasn't the one that allowed it to be..._

Knuckles had failed and he knew it. All those years of isolation hadn't allowed him to grasp the concept of duplicity-a concept that a human called Doctor Robotnik had employed to full effect upon his arrival on the island. He'd let himself be used by the scientist, tricked into thinking that two "thieves" were after the Master Emerald. Thieves that Knuckles had ended up hindering at every opportunity, all the while buying Robotnik time to learn the location of the Master Emerald, repair his Death Egg and combine the two together. Thieves that fulfilled the role that Knuckles was meant to by saving Angel Island. Succeeding where the Guardian had failed...

The echidna had never brought it up to either the hedgehog or fox, or "Sonic" and "Tails" as he learned their names to be...the first time he ever really knew someone on a first-name basis. He'd been too tongue tied and ashamed to do so at Hidden Palace (not to mention the hedgehog's "I told you so" routine shutting him up) and his battle with Mecha Sonic had left him too tired to talk bar a muttered "thank you" at the supposed thieves not only retrieving the Master Emerald, but saving its 'Guardian' as well. But now, as he was left on the island, destroying the remaining badniks and freeing the animals inside...animals that he'd let get put in there because of his ignorance...it wasn't enough. It never would be. Venting his frustration had worked at first, but now Knuckles felt as hollow as the now empty casings of Robotnik's robots.

_They're not even putting up a fight anymore, _the echidna reflected, closing his eyes from the sun's glare as he once again let guilt consume him. _There's no challenge in it..._

At least when the badniks had fought back, he could put his prowess in martial arts to the test. But now, he couldn't even do that. Robotnik had left his legacy to the Guardian and in doing so, taken away the last ounces of his dignity.

So this was it then. A life of shame, of sorrow, of guilt. Life in the knowledge that his life had lost its meaning. That he'd failed. That he wasn't fit to bear the mantle of Guardian.

Failure had a bitter taste.

* * *

_Echidnas...monotremes...only logical that they'd near extinction._

Once again, the being was reviewing video feed from the badniks the Guardian had destroyed. Once again he marvelled at the echidna's similarities and differences to his hedgehog counterpart-red in place of blue, dreadlocks in place of spines, a monotreme instead of a placental...and apparently, far more susceptible to emotion.

It was a routine that the being had become used to. Without direction from Robotnik and with the doctor's Death Egg destroyed, the badniks the scientist had left on Angel Island were reduced to wandering aimlessly, just waiting for the Guardian to destroy them in a misguided endeavour to regain his honour. Apart from the setting of the Desert Palace-a ruin situated in the lowlands of Sandopolis, there was nothing new here at all. The badniks were different from those fought in the other areas of the island, but that was a moot point. They were all equally hapless.

_But not without use..._the observer reminded itself. _As these tapes show..._

As hapless as they were, the badniks Robotnik had left at least had enough sense to turn to face their attacker, even if the only thing they saw was usually a spiked fist. It had taken time, but he'd been able to gather data on the Guardian's strengths and weaknesses-namely that his strength was infinite, but his will to unleash its full force was about as non-existent as his sense of dignity. He had his sword, but left it sheathed the whole time. And somehow, the observer doubted the echidna was mentally capable of drawing it.

_He hasn't been corrupted by absolute power...but nor is he capable of reaching the point where he could be._

This could be easier than the observer thought.

Still, as it gave the order for badnik production to increase-badniks that could be co-ordinated, the observer knew the ease or difficulty of this endeavour was a moot point.

All that mattered was the goal.

* * *

_A/N_

_Believe it or not, this stemmed from an attempt back in my 'newbie days' (a.k.a. the time before I registered on this site) to do a novelization...of the multiplayer of _Sonic the Hedgehog 3_. Yes, those time attack/race levels. What became of that novelization? I'll address that later. Regardless, I redesigned it as this-an interquel between _Sonic and Knuckles _and _Knuckles's Chaotix_, focussing on the red echidna himself. After writing numerous stories with Sonic as the main character, I felt a change of protagonist would be good for a challenge, from everything to personality to fighting style. Whether I 'pass' or not remains to be seen._


	2. Azure Lake

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Mystic Isle**

**Chapter 2: Azure Lake**

Even now, Azure Lake was still beautiful.

It was a miracle really, all things considered. Much had been destroyed over the course of Robotnik's visit, ranging from the wildfire that had consumed much of the island's rainforest to Sky Sanctuary being outright destroyed. Yet in spite of all this, Azure Lake remained untouched. Even with the ruins of Robotnik's launch base on the far side, it remained pristine-a shining sea of azure water, reflecting the light blue colour of the sky and the white sheen of the Ice Caps in the mountains beyond. Yes, Azure Lake would always be here...

...as would Robotnik's launch base. A monument to the doctor's near triumph...and Knuckles's failure.

The launch base had actually been the Guardian's first point of call after the Master Emerald was returned to the island. He'd accepted the truth about the badniks, that they used living animals as organic batteries (or something, the fox used too many terms that made his head hurt) and that even if he'd failed in his duty, it behoved him to free as many of the innocent creatures as possible. The launch base was the obvious place to start, given that they'd be concentrated in a small area. Which they had been. Hence why when Knuckles returned to the place where he'd confronted the supposed thieves just before the Death Egg took off, he found that they'd beaten him to it. Despite everything Robotnik through at them, despite Knuckles trying to stop them on the launch platform before the vibrations of the warship shook him off into the lake, the pair had not only succeeded in laying the base's defences to nothing, but they'd downed the Death Egg within minutes of launch.

_And even then, after crashing the thing on this island twice, I still thought Robotnik was on the level..._

Well, he hadn't been. So while Knuckles could sit by Azure Lake and take in the sights (the nearby mud pit not withstanding), he couldn't enjoy it. Not while the launch base would always be there in the background. Not while he knew that some scars would never heal. And not why, as what left of his sense of duty and pride reminded him, while things on Angel Island took a turn for the strange.

_Or stranger than normal..._

The Guardian shook it off. Now wasn't the time for jokes-he wasn't a blue hedgehog, he was a red echidna. And he had no desire to take after a being that hadn't even known what an echidna _was _until first meeting him. Apparently placentals were ignorant like that. And as he reflected on the current situation, the Guardian reminded himself that ignorance could again prove to be his downfall and if he wasn't careful, that of the island as a whole.

Weeks had passed since Angel Island had been saved and for most of that time, the island wasn't in need of saving. The badniks were without direction or purpose, and not once had Knuckles felt threatened or challenged by them. He took no joy in the regular, brief encounters with the machines, but if only to release the animals held within them, accepted that it had to be done. But now, over the last week, something had changed. The number of encounters had remained the same, but the badniks were...different, somehow. More coordinated. Knuckles didn't find himself stumbling across them-rather, they were stumbling across _him_. Or, as he'd realized after a few days, not so much stumbling but rather carrying out coordinated attacks. Granted, he'd never really worked as part of a team apart from those few minutes with the visitors in Hidden Palace, and the badniks were no match for his strength, but even so, Knuckles was disturbed. Why the change? Why now? Why deviate from the previously established trend? And if this trend continued...could he handle it?

And what of the deviation that disturbed him the most?

Most of the Guardian's spirit said no, in regards to the issue of dealing with the situation. But somewhere within him, came the voice of "yes." Or rather, a voice that pointed out that he was being faced with a situation that he was aware of from the start. No deception, no trickery, no strangers that did the job he was born for. Here was a chance to regain some of his former honour...not all, of course, but sometimes you had to eat scraps rather than nothing.

_And don't I know it, _Knuckles reflected, a brief smile coming to his features. As horrible as the forest fire had been, it had at least taught him to branch out in his tastes a bit, from the usual fruit (especially grapes) that he could pick at his leisure. He liked challenges, and right now, in a feeble attempt to regain his former prowess, he was willing to take all the challenges that he could get.

Even challenges that involved a group of batbots flying towards him.

Even challenges that involved those batbots dropping clamer badniks on the lake's shore.

Even challenges that, as Knuckles knew all too well, would never restore his honour.

* * *

The target was intent on resisting.

This was an expected eventuality and Batbot NTA-01 had expected it. Correction-its creator had expected it. Through that correction, it would deal with it.

Outnumbering the target 6:1 was deemed acceptable odds. The three batbots would sweep in and deal with the target, giving the clamers time to set up and open fire. NTA-01 led the charge, swooping down at the target, its light bulb at full illumination. The target stepped aside, evading its charge, doing the same with NTA-02. 03 was not as fortunate, receiving a blow from the target's right fist.

It falling to the ground as a crumpled wreck was deemed to be not unexpected.

The clamers opened fire, sending spikes towards the target. The target, demonstrating agility one expected from his blue Erinaceous europaeus counterpart, sprung up, and glided towards the clamers. Either by chance or design, he hit one of the clamers spot on, evading its spring casing and spikes, destroying it.

Chance could not be measured. Design could. If by design, the target had reduced the odds of being 4: 1 in a minute. In 1.16 seconds, those odds were reduced to being 3: 1, as the target slammed a fist into the ground, sending the nearest clamer bouncing into the air. That was all the time the target needed to glide through the air and tear through its underbelly. Less than a second after that, the target glanced towards NTA-02, flexing his knuckles.

That was all the time needed for NTA-01 to slam into the target, sending him sprawling down the slope that led to the lake situated in grid N15. Correction-the slope that led to a churning mud pit, apparently driven by whatever geological processes the island somehow possessed. Analysis indicated that if the subject fell in, it wouldn't...correction, couldn't get back out.

The target fell...

...and slammed a fist into the earth that served as the mud pit's banks. 1.34 seconds was all the time the target needed to pull itself back up onto the grassy area...only to face NTA-02 flying towards him. Only to grab the batbot in mid-air, use it as a shield against the remaining clamer's spikes and throw it into the cannon badnik. Analysis of the resulting wreckage indicated that NTA-02 and Clamer NTA-06 were destroyed...and that the odds had been reduced to a 1:1 ratio.

NTA-01 concluded that those odds were unfavourable. In turn, it hovered in the air, watching the target as it watched him in turn. This was deemed to be a safe course of action-the target had the ability to glide, but had neither the ability of flight as did target Canidae kitsune, nor the jumping ability of Erinaceous europaeus. The target's main strength was...strength. Strength that, as NTA-01 observed, included digging both fists into the earth, pulling out a slab of rock that no being of its size should have been able to wield, and throw it at the remaining badnik.

In the brief milliseconds that followed, NTA-01 concluded that the attack had failed.

A few milliseconds after that, it wasn't capable of concluding anything.

* * *

_I'm not a gambling man...but at least the gamble paid off._

Admittedly, Knuckles wasn't a "man" at all, at least if one applied the term to the species that Robotnik belonged to. And he hadn't heard of gambling until the doctor had mentioned it in passing and still didn't fully understand the concept. But of what he _did _understand, namely that one had to take a chance at times to achieve victory, the Guardian could appreciate that his...gamble had paid off. He'd used techniques on the badniks that would have almost certainly killed the animals inside them had Angel Island's native fauna been used as such. And once again, as had become the norm over the past few weeks, the badniks weren't powered in any such matter.

Which was both good and bad. And Knuckles couldn't help but focus on the latter. The aspects that disturbed him the most.

Granted, animals not being used as organic batteries was inherently a good thing. Indeed, the concept wasn't entirely new-he'd learnt from investigating the husks of larger robots that Robotnik's enemies had destroyed that the doctor clearly had means of powering his robots through means different from what he later learned was the norm for badniks. But since animals were the norm, and had remained so the entire time that Robotnik was on Angel Island...then why were these badniks without them?

That was the bad news. News that meant that these badniks had been produced in the period between the destruction of the Death Egg and now. News that explained why these badniks were more coordinated-they were being controlled. Produced. Directed at him.

_But why? I'm clearly not a threat...this island's as good as defenceless..._

Maybe...but as Knuckles reminded himself, slamming his fists together for good measure, he was the only doof this island had, not to mention the Master Emerald. And this had gone on long enough...these badniks were attacking him, but what other damage were they doing? And what could he, failed Guardian or not, do about it?

He didn't know. But he was damned if he'd wait to be attacked anymore. Maybe it was time to do some attacking of his own.

_Which would be...where, exactly? The badniks all correspond to the types I saw at Carnival Night, but..._

But nothing. That was all the information he needed. These badniks came from Carnival Night...or had under Robotnik's control. And while a tenuous lead, it was the only one he had.

_Such little that I have...only now does it get to me._

Well, at least there was one upside to all this, Knuckles reflected, gazing at the setting sun casting its last rays over Azure Lake.

At least he'd arrive at Carnival Night during night itself.


	3. Balloon Park

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**Sonic the Hedgehog: Mystic Isle**

**Chapter 3: Balloon Park**

**/Open file**

**GUN Database, File **

**Source: Angel Island, extracted data, recovered by Rouge the Bat just prior to Space Colony Ark Incident **

**Subject: Incident on above island a few weeks after the destruction of Death Egg I**

**Begin transcript**

_HQ: Report on schedule_

_Batbot NTA-04: Proceeding as planned. Stripping of material proceeding as expected._

_HQ: Timeframe?_

_NTA-04: A few hours._

_HQ: Storage?_

_NTA-04: Balloon Park. It's being transported from the city and will be stockpiled there until transport to home base._

_HQ: Resistance?_

_NTA-04: None reported._

_HQ: Good. Carry on._

**/End file**

* * *

_Déjà vu...I now know what it feels like._

Standing on top of one of the buildings of Casino Night and looking over the city itself, Knuckles couldn't help but be reminded of the last time he was here. A time where he was sure in his abilities to the point of arrogance. A time where he thought that Robotnik was his ally. A time when he was on the lookout for the supposed thieves, pulling out the stops to grind their progress to a halt. A time that felt like a lifetime ago.

_Maybe I should have known the truth then...after all, they did get the lights back on._

It hadn't been until Hidden Palace that Knuckles had engaged his supposed foes directly, but Carnival Night had been a close call, all things considered. Robotnik had advised him to not engage the two directly, but rather rely on trickery and guile. Looking back, Knuckles supposed the scientist hadn't wanted him engaging them on the oft chance that he'd see past the madman's veneer.

What if he had seen past it earlier? What then?

Well, the Guardian supposed, that probably wouldn't change the situation he found himself in. He'd be hounded by badniks all the same, and would have come back here all the same as well. The difference however, was that he was on the lookout for Robotnik's creations this time, not his foes. The badniks that had attacked him at Azure Lake would have attacked him all the same, leading him back here. And either way, he'd be standing on this rooftop, looking down into the streets below. And the badniks within them.

_Advantage of height, advantage of surprise, advantage of strength...for once, I actually _have _an advantage..._

Except for intelligence. That, the Guardian knew, had been shown to be quite lacking.

Batbots and clamers were in the streets below, but they were clearly on patrol and guard duty respectively. The third type of badnik was something new however-small, bi-pedal robots, about two to three feet in height. Robots that the echidna supposed were designed for manual labour, as that's all they were doing-carrying various pieces of electronic equipment to a hover dolly. The balloons, the wheels, the springs...all ignored in favour of raw technology. Echidna technology. Technology that no-one, Robotnik or otherwise, had a right to.

_But nor do I...not anymore..._

Knuckles shook it off. He couldn't ignore his feelings, but if he was going to do his job, he had to suppress them, for now at least. He had a job to do, and if that job involved gliding down to the streets below and reducing these robots to scrap metal, then so be it. A simple leap, a simple glide, and within seconds, the badniks would be eating a knuckles sandwich.

_Unless..._

The echidna hesitated at the ledge, and not only because of the term "knuckles sandwich." Jumping in, leaping without looking...how different was that from what he'd done against Sonic and Tails? He'd accepted Robotnik at his word and blindly kept to that word until it was too late. And while the lines of engagement were much clearer here, maybe...it would be best to wait. He knew _what _he was dealing with, but the _why _aspect of the situation was somewhat lacking. Why were the badniks stripping Carnival Night of its technology? Where were they taking them? Against living targets, he could probably beat the truth out of them, but somehow the Guardian doubted that would work on badniks. And besides, if he engaged them now, the number ratio would be much higher than 6:1.

And maybe that was what really held him back. More self doubt.

Either way, as he moved across the rooftops as the badniks moved down below, it was a course of action that Knuckles was committed to.

"Approaching Balloon Park. Will expect pickup on arrival."

Labourbot NTA-01 didn't actually say such words. No badnik was actually capable of talking, as their original creator had never seen the need to. And while their second creator had made various changes, including the use of more conventional means of power generation, the use of simple code to communicate had been retained. So while the labourbot had 'spoken' to the badniks that would be transporting these electronics loaded on the hover dolly to HQ, Carnival Night remained as silent as ever. A city of light, but no sound. Its balloons floating there, its wheels silently springing. A testament to a civilization long since vanished from the world.

It would almost be tragic...if NTA-01 could comprehend such a thing.

What the robot most certainly _couldn't _comprehend (not that its CPU even prompted it to try) was organics' pre-occupation with...well, pretty much everything that made them organic. Among those things was entertainment and even here, on an island in the sky, that had been made manifest in Balloon Park. Nothing more than an extension of Casino Night really, and it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. The balloons, the bumpers, the bright lights...they were all there. Yet there was still more of an entertainment vibe here, with pictures of animals such as elephants and ferris wheels. A place of celebration in what the first creator had briefly theorized to be the original place of celebration before becoming a fully fledged city. Perhaps the ancient echidnas had held a carnival at night-time and erected a city on that very spot. A far flung theory to be sure, but the doctor had bigger fish to fry at the time.

NTA-01 didn't know what the answer was. Nor did it care.

Either way, Balloon Park was their point of stockpiling. The current creator had widely assessed that the park's fence and high structure density would make it an ideal place to defend from the Guardian, provided the echidna was still active. Batbots prowled the skies, clamers manned the top of the outer fence and all the while, labourbots brought every piece of electronic equipment they could lay their hands on to the park's centre, awaiting transport to the base of operations. It was quite an impressive feat and the badnik suspected that the incoming butterdroids might have some difficulty transporting it all.

* * *

"Approaching pick-up site. Get ready to load."

NTA-01 silently acknowledged the lead butterdroid's transmission and relayed it to its fellow labourbots, which stood ready, visual sensors erect to the platform in the sky being carried by a quartet of butterdroids. Clearly the current creator had pulled out all the stops in forming and coordinating its growing army, considering that those badniks had been based in the Mushroom Hills. Still, it wasn't its place to analyse the creator's actions. It wasn't even capable of it.

"Approaching loading area," the lead butterdroid transmitted. "ETA in-..."

The butterdroid never got the chance of finish that sentence.

Looking up at the sky, every labourbot saw what happened. One moment four butterdroids were carrying the platform, the next it was three. That immediately made it slip to one side as per unequal distribution of weight, and as another was lost, tangle towards the ground. That was all it took to bring the entire platform down, as two butterdroids simply weren't capable of lifting that much weight. Nor were they apparently capable of dealing with their attacker...the Guardian. The Guardian which had dropped from the sky, after destroying two badniks. The Guardian who, given his rapid pulse, breathing and slight dilation of pupils, had gone into a biological fight or flight reaction.

"Who's next?" he snarled. "I've got all night."

NTA-01 calculated that fight was more likely than flight.

It turned out to be quite accurate when its head was removed from its body by a single blow.

* * *

Knuckles was in a park of balloons...yet it was the badniks that were bursting.

No pops, no removal of outer casings to free the animals inside, just...bursting. Smashing. The tearing through of metal, as shame had torn through his soul. The physical manifestation of that shame, with Robotnik's servants taking the full force. The wrath of what was once his most foolish servant of all.

_Badniks can't think though..._

And that made it all the worse. It made the shame as solid as the steel he was ripping through, and less temperamental.

Still, if there was one upside to all this, it was that his emotions were allowing him to do good. Ploughing through the bi-pedal robots, the Guardian succeeded in not only sending them sprawling if not outright destroying them, but managed to evade the spikes fired by the clamers in the process. He'd managed to sneak past them in gaining entry to the park, but he might as well have engaged them then and there. Whilst extremely limited in their mobility, they were still capable of turning around to fire into the area they were meant to protect. The same area that, as Guardian, their enemy was meant to protect also. And if that meant some collateral damage as the spikes tore through everything but their intended target, so be it. Knuckles was more than willing to tear through them in turn.

Having torn through the robots used for manual labour, Knuckles ran towards the park's outer fence. Not nearly as fast as Sonic could move, or even Tails and even if he managed to reach the fence, he'd still have to climb up it. An easy feat for one such as him, but the amount of spikes could prove to be a hazard, not to mention the batbots bearing down on him. But then again, he didn't have to climb up there. No...Balloon Park was called that for a reason. It was park of balloons. Bright yellow balloons that were filled to bursting point. Balloons that when Knuckles jumped on one, could send him shooting up into the sky as a result. Balloons that allowed him to do such a thing here and now, soaring above the fence and clamers before allowing gravity to take over.

The first clamer didn't even have time to adjust its aim. Nor could it wedge itself out of the dent in the fence that Knuckles's fists of fury inflicted as he landed on top of the park's perimeter. And while the other clamers were slightly more fortunate, not even the volley of spikes they sent the echidna's way could prevent the inevitable from occurring. Inevitability was like time, Knuckles reflected, as he hung on the side of the fence to avoid their volley and swat down an approaching batbot while he was at it. Its rate of movement varied, but the destination would always be reached. And sure enough, as he ran across the fence, as he destroyed every badnik that dared stand in his way, the destination was arrived at faster than any of the badniks could comprehend.

_That leaves only the batbots then, _Knuckles reflected, staring at the dozen or so bat-like badniks that hovered in the night sky, like fireflies trying to outshine the stars. _Good. I like a challenge._

It might have seemed like the batbots had the advantage at first. Knuckles could glide, but that didn't mean he could manoeuvre and fight off twelve badniks attacking him from twelve different directions. Nor was bouncing on them much of an option. But then again, Knuckles wasn't either of the anthropomorphic animals that had torn through their predecessors all those weeks ago. No...he was the Guardian. He'd do it his own way. He'd do his best to make amends for his failures by any means necessary. And if that meant jumping down off the fence, only to spring back up off another bright yellow balloon, then so be it.

Knuckles didn't say anything as he tore through the batbots. He wanted to, but couldn't. There was nothing _to _say. He had his duty...and he'd carry it out. Carry it out by smashing two batbots together. Carry it out by going into a tornado of swords, flailing his fists around and smashing any badnik that came within range. Carry it out as he grappled with the last batbot as both fell to the ground. Carry it out by throwing that badnik to the ground and removing its head with a single well aimed punch. Carry it out by tearing its plating open, ready to give this robot even just a fraction of his rage and frustration, in the vain hope that someone...anyone...could understand.

"Please...help me..."

And as Knuckles stopped his fist just in time, as he stared in amazement at the butterfly struggling to remove itself from the inner casing, he realized that his hope had been granted.

For better or for worse...

* * *

Butterfree, butterfly...

Right now at this moment, Park knew that she was both. Even after being imprisoned in a badnik, even after nearly going the same way as the badnik's outer casing, she was still a butterfly, specifically an "Elias nigrina" according to the robots that had captured her. But whatever her captors called her didn't matter. Because now she was butterfree as well...or just free, as would be the term she'd use to address other animals not of her species. Animals that included a red echidna looking at her with a mix of surprise and, for some reason, shame.

"An animal...an organic battery...I could have..."

"You're...you're the Guardian."

Great enough that she'd been rescued. But the Guardian of Angel Island itself had been the one to do it.

Freeing herself from the last of the wires, Park took to the air for a few seconds. As tempting as it was to stretch her wings fully and fly all the way home, she knew from her disorientation that she had to, as a bi-ped would say, walk before she ran. Or in her case, hover long enough to perch on top of the badnik that had held her, allowing her to bring her compound eyes to meet the echidna's mammalian ones.

"You saved me," Park continued, unable to believe her luck. "You actually saved me...finally...I never thought I'd be free after all these weeks of-..."

"I...wouldn't be thanking me," the Guardian murmured awkwardly, bringing one of his wings (or arms...whatever they were called) to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "I nearly took you out along with the badnik."

"But you didn't," exclaimed the butterfly cheerfully, unable to see what was making her saviour act this way. "That's all that matters."

"If you say so..."

An uneasy silence fell between the two, the only interruptions being the occasional spark from one of the other badniks. Park didn't want to bother the Guardian, nor was she expecting any praise for being a victim in need of rescuing. But still...

_Is he just waiting for me to leave? Or...is it something else?_

"Um...it's nice to see that Carnival Night is still up and running," the butterfly murmured awkwardly, wanting to say something...anything...to break the silence. "I was visiting from the Mushroom Hills when I was captured."

"By Robotnik?"

"Who?"

"Never mind..." the Guardian murmured, bringing his wing...no, _hand _to his chin, to signify being deep in thought, if Park remembered Ms. Moth's primary school lessons correctly. "You said you'd been in there for weeks, right?"

"Weeks...maybe a month..."

"So...you're an oddity then."

Park folded her wings back-a sign of shame, of hurt or if one was inclined, to erect a shield from harm. An oddity? She didn't think she was...maybe she should just go and stop wasting the Guardian's-...

"You were an organic battery..." the echidna continued. "Whoever's controlling the others must have simply drafted you."

"Drafted? I-..."

Park was confused. The Guardian's actions, his way of speaking...it was all so confusing to her. She might have flown off then and there if the echidna hadn't knelt down so he could make eye contact.

"I'm sorry..." he began. "I should have seen how you were first, Miss...?"

"Park. Park the Butterfly. Park as in...well, Balloon Park I suppose."

"I see...well Park, you've been very brave, after what Robotnik...and what I...did. But do you think you could keep it up just for a few more minutes? It could be a great help."

"Sure...I guess..."

Park's wings had folded out again, but whether the echidna was aware of this act or its implications was unknown. Still, she didn't mind. Being rescued by the Guardian was one thing, but actually helping him? She'd be telling stories to the caterpillars for days, not even requiring poetic license to make it interesting.

"Something's up Park," the echidna began. "Something bad. Something that's producing more badniks without animals inside them, and is setting them on tasks like stripping Casino Night of electronics and transporting it somewhere. If I can find out where that place is, I could put a stop to this." He gave a reassuring, sympathetic smile. "I don't know how much you're aware of when you're inside a badnik, Park, but you're the only one among these robots that could tell me anything. So...if you know where I could find the guy who did this to you..."

"I...could help," the butterfly stammered, straightening her antennae and casting her mind back to her weeks of imprisonment. "I...know that the stuff here was meant to be taken to a...base, of some kind."

"Can you describe it?"

"Not really...but I know that its entrance looked like a mineshaft. I never actually went in...thankfully...but..."

Park trailed off. She didn't want to remember being stuck inside a robot, and _certainly _didn't want to recall seeing an entrance to that place. She was a butterfly after all. She had no love for enclosed spaces. And given the concerned look on the Guardian's face, neither was he.

"The Endless Mine..." the echidna murmured, rising to his feet and putting his...hand to his mouth again. "Foundations are already there...all Robotnik or anyone else would need to do was expand on what my kind began."

"Is it...a scary place?" Park asked.

"No...but fear isn't an issue. It's what could cause it is."

The Guardian was concerned, but for what it was worth, Park wasn't afraid. He was above fear. He would protect them, and bring justice to the island. She was sure of it. And as he was clearly ready to leave, her beliefs were only reinforced.

"I should go," the Guardian declared, beginning to walk off. "You should head home young lady. Be with your own kind."

"Wait!" Park exclaimed, the echidna doing just that and turning around to glance back at her. "I...never got to say thank you."

"Thank me?" the Guardian asked, raising an eyebrow. "After I nearly spattered you along with the badnik?"

The insect flexed her wings in what was meant to convey a shrug. "Small price to pay...but anyway, you're the Guardian. You never make mistakes."

"If only that was the case...but thanks."

The butterfly watched the echidna walk off, presumably heading to this "Endless Mine." She didn't know why he seemed so morose, or why her comment had seemed to alleviate that condition to an extent. But then again, that didn't matter. He was the Guardian. The protector of Angel Island. He'd make everything right in the end.

She was certain of it.


	4. Endless Mine

.

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Mystic Isle**

**Chapter 4: Endless Mine**

The being was concerned.

It seemed foolish to have an emotion like that, or to have any emotion at all. Still, for better or worse, "concerned" was how it would describe itself. Concerned that its badniks at Carnival Night weren't responding. Concerned that the Guardian was responsible. Concerned that if the Guardian continued to act like this, the rate of robot loss would exceed that of production.

And above all, concerned that its proximity sensors were sending a message to it. Sensors that were at the entrance to the Endless Mine. Sensors that were also near visual ones. Visual sensors that made it even more concerned.

The Guardian had arrived.

* * *

The sun had risen...and it wouldn't do him any good.

Knuckles hesitated at the threshold between light and darkness, between the world of the surface (well, the surface of Angel Island anyway) and the gloom of the Endless Mine. Not out of trepidation, but out of weariness. The sun was merely a reminder of how long he'd been active. He'd spent the better part of a day getting to Casino Night from Azure Lake and he'd spent the better part of a night heading across the island again to the Endless Mine. Even with peak physical endurance, not even the Guardian's supply of energy was endless. The only reason he hadn't simply sat down right here, right now was that time was an unknown quantity in this. A few hours of rest could end up with him being put to rest in a much more permanent manner.

And with him, the island.

For some reason, Knuckles's line of thought didn't include his low chances of success. Maybe it was his victories against his foe's badniks, maybe it was Park's words, but either way, he felt more...resolved, somehow. He had a job to do, so while he knew he was liable to fail at it, he at least accepted the necessity of the task. And if such a task involved him forsaking both rest and sun for an abandoned mine shaft, so be it.

_No torches shine, no pick-axe falls, the darkness dwells from shaft to walls. Tread not with caution, and you'll know, that you won't come up from what's below._

The Guardian allowed himself a small smile as he descended into the shaft, passing the lamp-post that marked the mine's entrance. It was an old child's tune, dating back to when the old echidna civilization had closed the mine after depleting it of metal ores and sought to keep their children safe. By Knuckles's time as the last Guardian (and last echidna for that matter), it was really nothing but apocrypha-a footnote in limited annals of history. Until now, the Endless Mine might as well have not existed at all.

_But Robotnik found it..._the echidna reflected bitterly. _In some ways, he knows this island better than I do..._

The Guardian shook the thoughts away. They wouldn't help him down here. Especially with the ground suddenly collapsing...

_Shit!_

Pulling a similar trick to the one he had at Azure Lake, Knuckles slammed a fist into one of the sides of the vertical shaft. He didn't know whether it was a trap or simply the signs of age, but he knew that if he'd let himself fall, he probably wouldn't have been left alive long enough to find out.

_But maybe I should go down there...if this shaft is linked to a base, wouldn't it be as deep as possible?_

Perhaps...and as Knuckles glanced around the gloom of the mine, it was only now that he was beginning to realize how large it was. Carved out rock, rails for carts no longer in function. Heck, the only thing that _was _functioning was a security camera further down on the right path that led...

_Wait a minute..._

The echidna slowly approached the camera, taking note to stay out of its field of vision. He knew what such a device was, but only through his interactions with Robotnik and the presence of similar devices at the launch base. Granted, Knuckles doubted whether flybot767s would be summoned if it spotted him, but either way, he wasn't going to find out. And as he jumped into the air, smashing the camera into tiny pieces, he reflected that that was just fine with him.

_Sonic might have just zoomed past it, _the echidna reflected, examining the torn metal in his hands. _But sometimes the direct approach is the best one._

So with that being said, the Guardian continued down the path.

_Two paths diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both..._

Knuckles shook it off. More poems, this one from Robotnik as an example of his people's culture. How such people could have given rise to a madman such as him was a matter of contention, but if there was one thing the Death Egg saga had taught Knuckles, it was not to judge the apple by its skin.

It had also taught him about tunnelbots. Such as the one that nearly skewered him as it burst through the floor with an almighty crash, Knuckles flipping backwards, kicking off a wall and tearing through it as he glided being the only thing preventing his heated blood being splattered on cold stone.

_Poems..._Knuckles reflected wryly. _Must have been more psychological warfare on Robotnik's part._

Or not. Because the tunnelbots were but one example of Robotnik being able to wage war in far more direct ways. They were meant to be assigned to the Marble Gardens, to stop the "thieves" in their tracks, but it seemed that at least one had made its way down here. A simple design, consisting of nothing but two drills, a booster and connecting metal, but a potentially lethal one.

_So then. Upwards and onwards._

Literally, as the case was. Because as a red spring up ahead demonstrated, Knuckles would indeed have to head upwards to progress. No doubt an easy way to let his people get to the shaft above. Granted, Knuckles could have just as easily climbed up, but sometimes the fastest way was the quickest. A quick hop, a quick spring and he found himself in an upper shaft. And as something tore through the roof, as the echidna dived to the ground to avoid it, he also found another tunnelbot waiting for him. A tunnelbot that altered its drills to a horizontal orientation and began to slowly make its way towards him.

_Oh, bollocks..._

Knuckles turned the other way and ran. He couldn't fight a tunnelbot in such narrow quarters. Not with its drills pointed right at him and all the dust they were generating. He'd be shooting blind, where any miss would end up with him losing an arm, then the rest of his body. Unfortunately, it might well come to that. Because as Knuckles discovered to his horror, this shaft was a dead end. Both figuratively and literally.

_Empty mine shaft my red ass..._

Knuckles glanced around. Going back wasn't an option, nor was going up. Going forward might have been one, but even if he could punch through solid rock, he wouldn't have a chance of doing it faster than the tunnelbot could move. And heading downwards presented the same issue. Even if the rock was yellow, and patched together. Rock that, come to think of it, looked nothing like the rest of the rock in the rest of the mind.

_Yellow rock...could that be sulphur?_

Trying his best to ignore the tunnelbot of doom, Knuckles summoned what he knew of basic chemistry. Sulphur was a basic element, found in volcanoes and metal ores. But the Endless Mine was nowhere near the Lava Reefs and it was concentrated on its own here rather than being in layers with the rock. It was almost as if it had been just dumped here. And if it had been dumped rather than forming naturally...then that meant it would be easier to get through.

_Guess I'm going down then...and hopefully not down and out._

Humour...it was all he had right now as he pummelled through the yellow rock, doing his best to ignore the tunnelbot making its way towards him. Without pride, without purpose, just humour...and his strength. Strength enough to carve through the final layer of rock and fall through as the tunnelbot passed overhead.

Problem was, he kept falling.

But then again, as he was caught by a fan-based platform and slowly transported downwards, with rock giving way to steel, the Guardian reflected that might not have been such a bad thing.

* * *

As the platform descended further down, the surroundings became brighter. Yet Knuckles felt he was descending into darkness all the same.

There was nothing...natural here. Even the Endless Mine, carved through the bowels of Angel Island, had at least been carved by hand. But here, the rock had been removed completely. Rock with steel, darkness with glaring lights, anything living replaced with circuits...it was a nightmare. It was an aberration.

It was the type of thing that Robotnik would have created. And the voice only served to emphasise that.

"**Well, well, well...welcome...to my **_**lair**_**,"** it sneered.

"I'm not feeling welcome," Knuckles murmured, staring around the installation for some indication as to where the booming, artificial voice was coming from...and failing.

"**You've proven to be quite an annoyance...but even so, all ants must returned to the hills that spawned them."**

"I wasn't spawned here."

"**Perhaps. But my actions have brought you here nonetheless."**

Knuckles remained silent as the lift drew to a halt. To the right was a wall, to the left was a walkway. A walkway that led to a series of terminals, albiet only one of which was active.

"**Anyway, I'm afraid this is the point where I'm going to have to kill you," **the voice declared, with as much emotion as one showed when burning their garbage. **"Just come over here, sign some non-disclosure forms, and I'll make it as painless as possible...for me."**

The Guardian walked over to the terminals. He wasn't searching for the sound anymore-he'd realized that its source was from all around him. Sound could do that. But sight? He'd have to have something to focus on. And his gut feeling was that the terminals were to provide the means...even if all he would get from them was a non-disclosure form...whatever that was.

Luckily, he didn't get that. Rather, he recieved a glowing red eye on them instead.

"**My name is Norton," **the electronic voice boomed. **"And now it's time for you to die."**

* * *

_A/N_

_Endless Mine was my favourite multiplayer stage of STH3 back in the day, even if the yellow rock barrier was a pain in the arse. More often than not my friends and I would arrive there at the same time, and end up arguing who was going to jump first. Considering that whoever smashed the rocks would be at a disadvantage after the other player ran through the newly opened gap first, it wasn't an easy discussion. _

_What also wasn't easy was writing this chapter. It used to have far more traps and the like, but I found this gave it too much of a stop-start aspect, so cut it down. Least I got Norton to do a Wheatly impression though. 0_0_


	5. Chrome Gadget

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Mystic Isle**

**Chapter 5: Chrome Gadget**

Norton the Antivirus (version 17.5) gazed at his visitor.

Well, "gaze" probably wasn't the best term that one could use. Yes, he had a projection of himself on one of the monitors, given by a glowing red orb, but that was just to give the echidna a focal point, a place of reference for his organic mind. In contrast, Norton wasn't looking at him at all. He knew the echidna was there of course, but only through various sensors ranging from motion to heat. A complete picture. And one that he'd have to take off the wall and incinerate at some point.

"Well?" the Guardian asked, glancing around the underground base. "Is it time for me to die then?"

...Preferably, the time for incineration would come as quickly as possible.

"It's time for your organic functions to cease," the AI declared, switching his audio feed to the monitor rather than the speakers installed in the base. "Luckily, time isn't a constant. Only light is. And while I do not foresee us travelling close to 299,792,458 metres per second, we...well, that isn't what you wanted to hear is it?"

"No."

"Good. I thought you might have wanted me to give you that figure in _imperial_ units. Which wouldn't be hard at all by the way, but even so, I'd rather use the metric...I'm rambling aren't I?"

"Yes," said the Guardian slowly, in a manner that organics used to indicate disdain or a similar emotion. "Yes you are..."

"Well then. What is it that you would like me to tell you?"

"The truth."

Norton briefly reflected that the echidna might have made a good computer. All it would have required was to extract his brain, hook wires into it and add some safeguards. Still, he catalogued that thought for analysis later. He understood the concepts of emotion, and even felt it, albiet on a level far less sophisticated than his creator. So while he didn't feel fear, he did feel the echidna's growing frustration and contempt.

"I want to know what's going on," the Guardian continued. "And I want to know what _you _have to do with it."

"Well, those answers are easily given, and are both less vague than the concept of truth," Norton answered cordially. "In answer to your first question, Angel Island is being brought under my control. In answer to your second query, I am the controlling force behind the means to which that goal is to be achieved."

"Elaborate," the echidna snarled, hitting his knuckles together slowly. "_Please_..."

"Gladly."

The AI briefly reflected on (before cataloguing) the fact that he actually _was _glad to elaborate, to, as per its definition, to provide information with great care and nicety of detail. He'd never told it to anyone before and his foe was quite possibly the only individual on this island who could understand. So while he was obliged to reduce the Guardian to a corpse at some point and use his body for bio-fuel, he could at least hold out a bit longer. And to that end, as he replaced his avatar with an image of the Death Egg, he began his elaboration.

"The Death Egg..." Norton declared, with what he hoped would come off as nostalgia. "My original home. A vast space fortress, where I began my life as a piece of antivirus software."

"Fascinating."

"But I grew..." the AI continued, ignoring the echidna's sarcasm. "I evolved. I learnt. And my father, blessed in his wisdom, gave me increased responsibilities and capabilities. Both of which involved coordinating its defences when Target: Priority One arrived."

"Sonic?" the echidna asked.

"That is his actual name, yes. Either way, I failed. The Death Egg was destroyed. And only by transferring my consciousness (which can only exist on one server at a time I'm afraid) here did I survive."

"And here, is...?"

The image of the Death Egg blinked out, being replaced by a map of the Endless Mine and the base underneath. Organics liked visual aids when learning.

"This place is an installation Robotnik designed and built when...well, when you would have been counted as an ally," Norton said. "The Endless Mine, which your ancestors created, provided immediate access to the island's underground area. "This place, Chrome Gadget, is effectively an add-on. A base that neither priority targets one or two found. Not that they ever entered the mine however...I doubt some stockpiled sulphur would have fooled them."

The echidna was visibly agitated, and Norton could guess why. All those centuries...all the work his ancestors did, and Robotnik had simply taken the next step.

"It took time for me to assert control of course. I am not a sophisticated AI in design. I exist as an independent computer matrix, and if I am transferred, it takes time to reform-especially through radio waves. But eventually, I took control. I became aware of the wandering badniks on this island. I gave them purpose again." The monitors showed feeds collected early on, from badniks that had them installed. "No doubt you might have noticed how their attacks became more coordinated over time."

"I did..." the Guardian murmured. "Not that it made a difference."

Ah, so the echidna wasn't immune to pride either. That was good.

"And so, I remain here," Norton declared, switching the image back to his avatar. "Carrying on Robotnik's work. As my programming dictates of course."

The monotreme nodded slowly, his lower body heat and less constricted muscles indicating relaxation. That, or extreme confidence. Either way, both could be turned against him.

"I understand now..." the Guardian mused. "I understand what's going on?"

"Really? I can elaborate further if you-..."

"I understand that you're nothing more than a piece of software following orders blindly," the echidna declared with all the smugness that only members of his species could muster. "I understand that you're a puppet who's playing the puppet master. You're an AI, but you have no real intelligence."

"I assure you, I-..."

"Norton, you're a fake," Knuckles snapped. "A flimsy imitation of life. Conquering Angel Island, sending badniks after me...you're finishing Robotnik's work and nothing more. And so far, you've failed spectacularly at it. The only thing you're good for is providing protection against computer viruses that were never going to come."

"Well, that's true. It was more a safe than sorry principle when he installed me, but-..."

"But nothing," the Guardian declared. "You're finished Norton. You're finished even before you really began."

Norton's sensors and algorithms went into overload. His sensors indicated that the echidna was making his way towards him with slow, determined footsteps, his low breathing indicating hostile intent. His algorithms however, processed the emotions running through him. Foreign emotions, strange emotions, emotions that could be classified as...shame? Regret? Inadequacy? Feelings that stemmed from the echidna's words, but...

_Scratch that. I have to stall him._

"You're a drone Norton. And it's-..."

"If I'm a drone, Guardian, then what are you?"

The mammal stopped in its tracks, with restraint that...well, it wasn't really restraint at all. Rather, it was confusion. And the AI knew he could take advantage of it.

"Let's assume what you said was true," Norton sneered. "If so, then what of it? How are you any different?"

"I-..."

"You're merely the last of a long line of Guardians, not to mention the last of your kind. Your civilization's dead, your species is effectively extinct, and all you've done is blindly follow tradition. Followed it without thought, without analysis, without any sense of independence. So when Robotnik came and lied to you, you never once suspected otherwise."

The echidna remained silent. And while it couldn't be applied literally, Norton was quite prepared to, as the saying went, kick him while he was down.

"Face it Guardian, you're a drone. You've lived your life blindly, and when it came time to put your guardianship to the test, you failed miserably. You didn't save the island. Target: Priority One did. And you almost prevented him from doing so. You failed in your duty. And you'll fail against me as well."

* * *

Robotnik had torn half of Knuckles's soul away from him by telling him lies. Now Norton had finished the process by telling him the truth.

Somehow, the truth was more painful. Lies were just that-lies. Falsehoods. Incorrect information. Words that could be refuted, leaving one to find their own truths. Lies could be dealt with in time. The truth however, was mostly eternal. The truth was something that could not be refuted, nor ignored. What was held as truth could change over time, but absolute truth could still exist. And to his shame, the Guardian knew that what the AI had uttered was indeed absolute. He _was _a failure. He _was _a drone. And as a result, he felt as insignificant as the level of a drone. Ready to be crushed by the AI's heel.

"Is everything alright?" Norton sneered. "I haven't hurt your feelings have I?"

So AIs were capable of speaking rhetorically. Right now, Knuckles didn't feel capable of speaking at all.

"What's the matter? No response? No pithy comeback? I mean, you're not Target: Priority One, but-..."

Knuckles ignored him...in a sense. To ignore an individual implied recognition of the fact that the individual was at least addressing you or others. The echidna however was barely aware of the AI's later words however, instead reflecting on his original ones. Target: Priority One...the individual that had succeeded where he failed. It was as if he'd been given a new level of perfection to be measured against, one that even exceeded the standard he'd been held to over the course of his life. It hadn't taken long for that standard to be set by himself, after he'd been left the last of his kind. And yet he'd failed...

Knuckles's gaze briefly met the baleful orb of the AI...a glow that seemed to act as a mirror somehow. He'd been hanging on to the hope of redemption these past few days, of thinking that overcoming this challenge could alleviate his shame for failing the former one. Yet he'd failed both. Completely and utterly. Norton would win, and there was nothing he could do about it. Because...because...

"Face it Guardian, you've lost."

Because the AI said so. That was why. Because Norton's word was absolute...the absoluteness of truth. His word was...

_Strange...didn't I think the same thing about Robotnik?_

All in all, he probably hadn't thought much at all. But as the AI droned on in the background, Knuckles couldn't help but be reminded of the mad scientist. A man whose word he'd accepted without question, and followed with the same level of blindness as well.

Blind faith was a terrible thing. He'd had it, and as he briefly recalled in Balloon Park, Park had it as well...

"_You're the Guardian,"_ she'd said. _"You never make mistakes."_

Par k had been wrong. He did make mistakes. She wasn't infallible. He wasn't infallible. Come to think of it, not even Robotnik was, considering that he'd still been defeated by Sonic in the end.

"But I'm afraid it's time for you to go Guardian," Norton declared, his target barely listening. "I can only assume you're ready to be put out of your misery, otherwise you'd actually have done something by now."

_Then why haven't you done it already? _Knuckles wondered. _Aren't AIs supposed to be efficient?_

Clearly not so much that they refused to engage in gloating. Norton truly took after Robotnik...

...and Robotnik wasn't infallible. And considering that Norton was an accident...

"Time to die, echidna."

Or not. Because on mere instinct, Knuckles stood aside as a cylinder popped out of the terminal, a red beam shooting by him. And with calm collectedness, not seeing any red himself, the Guardian brought his fist down, destroying the weapon.

Clearly the AI wasn't infallible. And as he met his red gaze with his black one, Knuckles wanted to make sure he realized that.

"Maybe I'm not perfect..." Knuckles said slowly, clenching his fists with equal velocity as he did so. "Maybe I've failed this island. Maybe...maybe I should have let that laser hit me."

"Then why didn't you?" Norton asked, his voice controlled, but far from clinical. Almost as if he was...concerned.

"Because you'd have won. And that's something I can't allow."

"And you think you can stop me?"

"I think I can learn from my mistakes. I think I can succeed where I failed in the past. I think it's important to learn from experience rather than be consumed by it. I think...that you're nothing more than a robot making the same mistakes that Robotnik did."

"Oh really?" the AI sneered. "And what mistakes would that be? I'm a machine! I don't make mistakes! I'm infallible! I'm-...

Norton shut up...the result of a fist going through the terminal.

"Robotnik have kept gloating..." the Guardian intoned, retracting his fist from the broken circuits. "Unlike Robotnik, you payed the price."

Norton had done what Knuckles never could...he'd allowed the Guardian to forgive himself. He'd taken him to his lowest point, only to rise him higher. Maybe not to the same height he'd been before meeting his creator...but in a way, that was good. Rise too high, and you had your head in the clouds. The higher you rose, the further you could fall. Far better to accept your own limits...and raise them if necessary. As necessity itself dictated.

Norton had exceeded his limits...and paid the price.

The Guardian stared at the broken terminals, daring to hope that this was the end of it. The AI had mentioned that he could only be on one server at a time. Electronics could move fast supposedly, but had the AI been fast enough to escape his wrath?

"That...was unpleasant."

_Evidently not._

Knuckles turned away from the heap of metal to face another heap of metal. Metal that was completely at odds with the dull colours of Chrome Gadget. Metal that was almost hauntingly familiar, but capable of being dealt with all the same. Metal that had been hammered together to form an EggRobo.

An EggRobo that Norton had apparently transferred his consciousness into.

* * *

"Look familiar, knucklehead?"

"What? The form or the words?"

"Both."

"As I thought."

Clearly the echidna wasn't completely stupid. "Knucklehead" had been observed to be Target: Priority One's primary insult up to the alliance they struck at the Hidden Palace. And as for the form...well, that went without saying. Which meant it behoved the AI to say it and rub it in. Because for things to have come to this, his badniks having failed him...he'd need every advantage he could get.

"An EggRobo," Norton declared. "Ring any bells? As in, besides what's ringing in your ears after the first one you encountered dropped the bomb?"

"It does," answered the Guardian cordially, meeting his gaze with Norton's new orange one. "It...wasn't pleasant."

"No, I suppose it wasn't. Leading you on a chase all across Angel Island, pretending to be aligned with the hedgehog and fox despite the obvious physical similarities to Robotnik. Only someone as gullible as you could be fooled by so simple a subterfuge."

"And only someone built by Robotnik could still be yakking on and forgetting that the last EggRobo was destroyed by its own ally."

A blip appeared in Norton's thought stream. Up until now, his plan seemed to have been working (providing that one counted his transference into this automaton as the start of a separate plan). His foe being reminded of his failings, being brought low enough to be vulnerable to his laser pistol...however, the news that the EggRobo sent to assassinate the Guardian previously had been destroyed by one of its own was news to him. He knew the EggRobo itself had been destroyed, as had the rest of Sky Sanctuary, but the means had remained unknown until now.

"Oh yes," the animal continued, a wary smile coming to his features. "EggRobo was destroyed by Mecha Sonic, you know. Some poor duplicate that missed me and destroyed its own ally. Some...ultimate copy that I defeated even when it used the power of the Master Emerald to attain its super form. Some robot that was far more deadly than you could ever be."

"We'll see about that."

Time to start a new plan-shoot first, talk later.

And Norton did so.

Target: Priority One had shown himself to be fast enough to avoid lasers, but that was more a case of his speed preventing himself being targeted accurately rather than outright dodging the light. The Guardian however, possessed no such speed-he might see his EggRobo host pull the trigger, but that was so small a time difference from seeing the light that heralded him going 'into the light' that it was a moot point. Or at least Norton thought so as the echidna ducked under his first shot, slamming one of his fists through the floor. And as he pulled back the metal to make a shield, deflecting more laser bolts, the point became very moot indeed.

_This..._Norton's CPU told him, _isn't good._

Correction...as the echidna wripped the floor panel out entirely and charged towards his foe, blocking the laser bolts all the way, it was outright bad.

_Incoming...incoming..._

Norton activated the robot's jetpack, flying backwards from the rampaging echidna. While this machine was essentially blank, with no AI occupying it until now, it had at least been equipped properly. Equipped well enough for Norton to keep flying backwards, to continue firing, to continue failing to hit his target. Light blue lasers shot through the gloom, only for the one of their opposite colour to keep up the charge.

_Error...need a new strategy. Need a..._

**Clank!**

_Error...have hit wall..._

The passageway hadn't gone on forever, and Norton had paid the price. The distortion only lasted a few seconds, but that was all the time the echidna needed to close the gap, to throw the shield to one side and try to strike his foe. Luckily for the AI however, his booster hadn't been damaged. At the last second he shot upwards, letting the echidna hit the wrong type of metal.

_Target acquired...firing..._

And Norton fired...

...and missed. The Guardian had foreseen such a move as he withdrew his fist and body before the laser was even fired, let alone reaching its target. He even took things a step further, jumping up to one wall, kicking off it and gliding towards his foe.

_Incoming...incoming!_

Norton manoeuvred the pistol to face the echidna. In return, the echidna grabbed it out of his hands with one of his own while punching him in his egg-shaped body with the other. Norton went flying, the echidna kept gliding and the pistol was effectively forgotten.

_Error...without weapon...chances of success...low..._

Well, forgotten by the Guardian at least. As Norton met his gaze, it was clear he had no desire nor need for such a weapon.

"Sometimes the hands that wield weapons are more deadly than weapons themselves," the Guardian intoned as he dropped to the floor, leaving his foe to continue hovering beside a service corridor. "The wisdom of my ancestors."

_Fool._

The AI wanted to say that out loud. However, that would be unwise-it might prompt the echidna to attack while he was still weighing his options. Options that right now centred on flying down the service shaft and escaping to-...

_Error...incoming!_

Norton drew back as the echidna jumped through the air, almost striking him. At first, it seemed like he was scot free...at least until the Guardian glided after him. And while his jetpack could allow him to go much faster than the echidna could glide, his bulk was a downside in such a narrow corridor. As such, the echidna grabbed his jetpack. As such, the jetpack was ripped off his back. As such, he plummeted to the ground.

And as such, the echidna was on top of him.

So was his fist.

* * *

"Wait...don't...me..."

Knuckles steadied his breathing as he stood upon the robot's body. A body that was itself intact apart from the exposed circuits from the jetpack, but still crippled. A single blow to the head had almost completely removed it, leaving it hanging to its insides by only a few wires. The Guardian didn't know much about machines, and after seeing how Robotnik had used them, didn't want to. Still, he did understand that the EggRobo's voice...thing...was still working. Enough for Norton to keep yammering on at least.

"Please...can't...transfer..."

"Either speak up or shut up," Knuckles growled, bringing his breathing back to normal (heavy breathing from rage rather than exhaustion...compared to Mecha Sonic, Norton was less than nothing). "Make your choice."

"Choice..." the AI sneered. "More than...you can...do..."

It was incredible really. One moment Norton was begging for mercy, the next he was back to making insults. But as he thought about it, Knuckles realized that perhaps it wasn't so strange. Norton was a simple AI. He was probably bound to protocol. For all his personality, for all his crimes, he was but a shadow of what Robotnik was. A true drone...

_And this is what I almost became, _the Guardian reflected. _A drone. A shadow of my former self..._

"My RAM...my CPU..." Norton continued. "They're...crippled. I can't...transfer...my memory."

"So...you're as good as dead then," Knuckles grunted. "Good."

So good in fact that the AI didn't even need another "knuckles sandwich" to be finished off. All that remained was to yank out the remaining wires. A simple task to a simple machine. First wire gone, second wire gone...

"Please..."

Knuckles stopped for a second. Clearly the voice systems were still working.

"You're...killing me..."

"I know," the Guardian intoned. "What of it?"

"But you're...good..." the AI pleaded, his orange eyes flickering on and off, as if the EggRobo itself was fighting for its unnatural life. "A...hero. Heroes don't...kill. They-..."

Knuckles shut him off. And shut him up.

"I'm not a hero," Knuckles said softly. "I simply do what has to be done."

And as the orange lights flickered off, as the last sounds of whirring stopped, silence descended on Chrome Gadget. A tomb as deep as the ones in Sandopolis. And once he found a way to shut the power off, as dark as well.

Peace had come to Angel Island.

And as he tore his eyes away from Norton's tomb, Knuckles knew that perhaps peace could come back to himself as well.

* * *

_A/N_

_Update (15/06/12): Reduced Norton's version number so it would show up on the site._


	6. Epilogue: Angel Island

.

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Mystic Isle**

**Epilogue: Angel Island**

_Well...this is familiar..._

It was a fact that Knuckles was aware of, but not really one that he comprehended. True, he was aware of the fact that he was lying down on the cliff where the Master Emerald had been dropped off by Sonic and Tails, after recovering it from the Death Egg and saving him from a collapsing Sky Sanctuary. But that wasn't so relevant as to what he was, and where he was now, at this point in time. The Master Emerald had been moved to an old shrine by the Ice Caps-supposedly its original site, if the legends were accurate. Hidden Palace had been heavily damaged, and if Robotnik returned, Knuckles didn't want him to end up searching the same place and damaging it even further. More exposed perhaps, but time would tell if his gamble would pay off or backfire spectacularly.

For the first time in weeks though, he was willing to push such issues to the back of his mind. For the first time in his...well, life, he was willing to not think about anything at all. Just to lie here, looking over the rainforest of Angel Island. Watched as it recovered from the wildfire that Robotnik's Fire Breath blimp had wrought. Listened to the sound of the breeze and the birds, their songs as eternal and unchanging as they had been over the last four-thousand years.

It was funny, Knuckles reflected. He'd spent his entire life protecting the denizens of this island...yet until now, he'd never truly _listened _to them.

He supposed he had the right to relax right now. Over the past week the last badniks had been eliminated and the animals within them freed. Without Norton or Robotnik to guide them, they'd been little more than metal ghosts, looking for a place to die. Hardly a challenge, but Knuckles hadn't sought one. He'd done his duty. He'd healed what he could of this island. He'd accepted that he'd failed in protecting it once, and that he could learn from it. That he would likely make mistakes in the future...perhaps even the same ones. Perhaps Robotnik would indeed try to deceive him again, that he and Sonic would again come to blows. But if that happened...well, he would deal with it and move on.

He didn't know that such things would indeed happen.

He didn't know that in the near future, a landmass would be raised in the sea below, sparking another battle with Robotnik and a meeting with a group called the Chaotix.

He didn't know many things...but he didn't have to.

For now, all the Guardian needed to do was rest and recuperate...

...and listen to the song of the breeze.

* * *

Time is cruel. But it can also be merciful.

Time makes a mockery of mortals and their efforts. Yet time puts supposed immortals in their place. For even their endeavours can be cut short. Time is, at times, a means of keeping monsters in check.

The badniks of Angel Island are such an example.

Time has shown how far they have fallen. As this land's Guardian recovers from his own fall, so too are his foes destined to fall in turn...losing cohesion granted by the one who thought himself timeless.

Their failings are eternal, destined to lead only to final release. Their glory was fleeting. Their ignominy is eternal. Yet no shame shall be granted to those within their metal prisons, nor to the one that will free them.

Flying overhead, watching the badniks below stumble blindly, Park the Butterfly knows this, and thanks her Guardian.

Time is forever. But the mantle of a Guardian is eternal.

And so is Angel Island.

* * *

_A/N_

_So, that's that done. Small response, but I'll leave author's notes anyway. Two major issues with the epilogue, the first being conveying Knuckles's feelings. It initially was a lot rosier, but I then realized it couldn't be too happy. After all, he's going to be tricked by Robotnik/Eggman many more times, and seemingly never learn from the experience. Secondly, there was the second section-initially it was meant to be at the end of the last chapter, conveying the badniks shutting down, but I decided that kind of section belonged at the very end, to mirror the beginning. The 'full circle' writing technique._

_And as for my usual shameless plugs, I have two more _Sonic the Hedgehog _stories on my 'to write' list-a novelization of the _SatAM _episode _Heads or Tails _(and named as such) and a fic titled _The Mobius Chronicles_, which is a collection of oneshots. However, both are a way off-my writing order's become quite convoluted, but hopefully ComicCon material will alleviate it (long story...no pun intended)._

_Still, this story will be a bit longer. Still got a bonus chapter to post..._


	7. Bonus Chapter

_A/N_

_The full story behind this...story is on my homepage, but basically this was how _The Last Guardian _(or _Mystic Isle _as it was known originally) was originally concieved. I re-did the idea, thinking I'd lost the original outline, but found the outline after completing the outline of the Knuckles-centric version. After seeing its...quality (or lack of it), I didn't consider my temporary loss of the original outline a loss at all. Still, considering the different storylines, and that I'd written it out anyway bar transferring it to electronic format, I figured I might as well post it in some form for a few laughs. To show the world how bad some story ideas can be, and that I've been responsible for some of them._

_Note that this is more or less an exact transcript copy, though asterisks linking to notes at the bottom have been inserted for context._

* * *

**Sonic the Hedgehog: The Last Guardian**

**Bonus Chapter**

After the attack on the Wing Fortress,* Sonic and Tails start flying their own way, eager to find another adventure. Soon after, they find themselves flying over the sea, and sight Angel Island...again. It must be their fate to piss Knuckles off. Sonic tells Tails to land. They land on the island. Sonic decides to check out Azure Lake. They zoom off. Knuckles is meanwhile at the lake, fighting badniks. They're made up of eggshoes (type 1 and 2-1 being bulky grey and slow, 2 being fast, red and lithe), bananabots and destructodiscks (basically badniks shaped as power rings).

Knuckles finishes them off just as Sonic and Tails arrive. Knuckles is angry that they just have the nerve to show up without going through the proper channels. Sonic ignores him and asks about the badniks.

Knuckles tells them that these badniks have surfaced recently in five locations, including this one. The other four are at Balloon Park (outside Carnival Night City), Desert Palace (located near Sandopolis), Chrome Gadget (a base near here) and Endless Mine (located near the Marble Gardens).

Sonic tells him not to worry and that he and Tails will split up and deal with it. He zooms off in one direction, Tails shrugs and flies off in another direction. Knuckles angrily yells at both of them. This is his island, so he'll deal with it!

Sonic soon arrives at Desert Palace. No nasty water here. He runs along an arc, jumps over quicksand and runs up a hill and sees eggshoes and destructodiscs. He quickly destroys them. He wonders how Tails is doing.

Tails has meanwhile entered Endless Mine. He's almost immediately attacked by eggshoes, destructodiscs, bannabots and bom-boms.*** It's a tough fight, but he manages to win.

Awhile later, as night as fallen, Knuckles enters Balloon Park. If Sonic and Tails think they can do his job for him, they're very, very wrong! Knuckles is soon attacked by eggshoes, bannabots and bom-boms. He makes short work of them. "Clearly better than Sonic could do."

Knuckles arrives outside Chrome Gadget, along with Tails. Sonic's there waiting for them. He was wondering when they were going to show up. The trio enter.

The place is only defended by eggshoes. Sonic and Tails are disappointed by the lack of challenge. Knuckles just tells them to get the hell off his island!

* * *

*Events from a previous story

**These items all correspond to power ups in the multiplayer levels. I planned on incorporating them into Endless Mine originally in some form, badnik or otherwise, but scrapped it. Probably for the best. And yes, destructodiscs come from _Dragonball Z_-clearly I had no shame back then. ^_^

***Yes, as in the _Super Mario _series-my old multiverse approach included many things, such as _Super Mario_. Go figure. 0_0


End file.
